The present invention relates generally to flexible suspension systems for an air bearing head/arm assembly for magnetic storage devices.
Current magnetic head slider assemblies for hard disk drives are of two types. One is a linear seek type in which the head slider assembly is mounted on a linear drive mechanism that moves the assembly linearly in a radial direction of the disk. The other is a rotary seek type in which the head slider assembly is mounted on a rotary drive mechanism that drives it along an accurate path to a desired track. Since the rotary seek type requires less space than the linear seek type does and it can be made lightweight, the rotary seek type has been used extensively for small disk applications.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,167,765 discloses a transducer suspension system which includes a rectangular flexure having two narrow flexible fingers that are disposed parallel to a longitudinal axis of a load beam. The flexure includes a relatively stiff cross leg that joins the two flexible fingers at the free end. The cross leg is offset toward the magnetic media and leads to a central narrow finger to which the air bearing slider is attached. The load beam is fastened to the flexure and engages a protuberance disposed on the central finger to hold the flexure in operating position. The load beam includes a resilient section for flexibly mounting the transducer suspension mount apparatus and a rigid flanged channel section for engagement to the flexure.
If the prior art suspension system is employed in a rotary seek mode, it lacks sufficient stiffness in a direction transverse to the length of the system to withstand bending forces that might occur as a result of the high speed rotary seek movement of the assembly. Another disadvantage is that since the center of gravity of the head slider assembly is lower than the load beam, high speed movements of the assembly cause it to produce a violent rolling action which might produce damages to a disk. Therefore, the prior art head/arm suspension system is not suitable for rotary seek applications to take full advantage of the high speed capability of rotary seek motion.